A weaving loom of the above-mentioned type is known from CH 490 541. Therein, attachment threads are arranged by means of feed needles while weaving a ribbon. There are no suggestions whatsoever as to how the ribbon needle weaving loom could carry out in advantageous manner the incorporation of knitting threads or cover threads. A similar technology has been independently disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,234 A.
From WO 2007/071077 A1 it is known to incorporate a conductive thread in various ways by having the feed needle arranged on a shaft that is oriented transversely to the wrap direction, the shaft being connected to a first driving device for performing a pivoting movement of the shaft and it further being connected to a second driving device for effecting a displacement in axial direction. As a result of pivoting, the guide dips into and out of the shed. As a result, the guide can be moved across the width of the woven material, which in the case of WO 2007/071077 A1 is a ribbon.
From JP 2005/015954 A, there is known a weaving loom for weaving in an effect thread that can be incorporated in the backing fabric. The weaving loom of JP 2005/015954 A is equipped with a shed forming device for the warp threads which allows selecting individual warp threads. In this case the effect thread is a selected, additional warp thread. Thereby, both the effect thread and any additional warp threads are guided within the shed. As a result, the effect threads of the warp that is being fed in from above the additional warp threads and the selected effect thread, are tied off by these warp threads upon a transverse movement of the effect threads. This means that the effect threads are not applied above the backing fabric, but rather become a part of the backing fabric and thus modify the structure.
From EP 2 395 140 A1, there is known a weaving loom which is capable, by means of a warp-laying device that is laterally movable by one or several warp threads of the backing fabric, to bind down, onto the backing fabric, additional threads called cover threads. The weaving loom of EP 2 395 140 A1 is certainly suitable for certain applications, in particular for the applications mentioned EP 2 395 140 A1. However, in certain applications it appears necessary, on the one hand in order to provide relief to the threads, i.e. to the cover threads of EP 2 395 140 A1, and on the other hand in order to achieve greater flexibility of the weaving loom, particularly if there are several additional threads, to take measures for ensuring a clean weaving in and laying of the additional threads. For this purpose, in EP 2 395 140 A1 there is proposed a retaining hook—originally also called a blade, which, however, has nothing to do with the guide needle mentioned here and further below since it lacks the connection to the additional thread—but which is only suitable for one additional thread (cover thread) due to its low flexibility.
From WO 2013/107571 A2, there is known a weaving loom comprising a device for forming additional weft effects which, however, has proven to be disadvantageous; overcoming those disadvantages is an object of the invention. It should be noted that WO 2013/107571 A2 proposes guide needles to be arranged between reed and shed forming device which are slidable in the vertical direction and weft direction and which can bring the effect threads into the lower shed so that the weft-insertion element can be moved through the effect thread loops thus formed. A first fundamental disadvantage of this device is that the effect thread loops become progressively smaller as the shift strokes of the guide needles in the weft direction become larger. The weft-insertion element can then no longer move in a reliable manner, or it cannot move at all, through the effect yarn loop. A second fundamental disadvantage is that the reed is open towards the top and the upper frame of the reed is missing. As a consequence, the reed teeth can bend in weft direction already under the influence of a small force, which results in warp density variations in the fabric.